


Ugly Duckling

by ClairesGuiltyPleasure



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Ugly Duckling, fairytale AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 11:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30122013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClairesGuiltyPleasure/pseuds/ClairesGuiltyPleasure
Summary: I blame the discord server.
Relationships: Thomas Barrow/Jimmy Kent
Comments: 12
Kudos: 23





	Ugly Duckling

**Author's Note:**

> I blame the discord server.

Once upon a time, there was a mother duck. She had five eggs and sat on them every day, waiting for them to hatch. Four of them did and she was delighted to have such pretty four little ducklings. She thought they were the most beautiful babies on the whole pond. The last egg was the biggest one and the mother duck sat on it and waited patiently. She thought the fifth duckling will be the most beautiful of them, since it was taking longer time to hatch. But when it finally did, the mother duck was very disappointed. It was ugly and too big. It didn’t have yellow feathers like her other children, but it was the colour of ash.

The mother duck named the ugly duckling Jimmy and let him stay on for a while. She was a mother after all and didn’t want to leave a little baby alone. But everyone knew that she favoured her four dandelion-coloured ducklings. All the other mother ducks on the pond felt sorry for her, for having such an ugly offspring. No other duckling wanted to play with poor Jimmy, and he had to sadly watch as they raced around the pond, quacking happily. Jimmy tried to race with them once or twice, but they didn’t want him, since he was bigger than them and they said it would be unfair. They poked fun at him for his colour and laughed at him, not letting him to be alone in peace. The mother duck fed him but didn’t care for him otherwise. He was an outcast.

One day, Jimmy had had enough. He felt strong enough to be on his own and told his duck mother that he was leaving. She didn’t tell him not to; in fact, she was rather relieved. Now she will have her perfect little family, without that big, ugly duckling.

And so, Jimmy went. He walked three days and three nights, until he reached another pond. He was very tired, and his little legs hurt. He saw that another flock of ducks was living on the pond. He decided that he would beg them to let him stay with them.

“Hello,” a rather handsome duck greeted him. “I’m Philip, the Duck of Crowborough. This is my pond.”

“Hello Philip, I’m Jimmy.” He didn’t know what the pond he was from was called. “Can I please stay here with you, at least for a little while? My family didn’t like me, they called me ugly. And I had to run away. I’m very tired and hungry.”

Philip was no stupid duck. He knew exactly what Jimmy was – a cygnet. He knew that Jimmy would grow into a beautiful swan. Philip had been in love with a swan once before. He was fascinated by their beauty and elegance.

“Very well, Jimmy, you can stay with us,” he said and introduced him to the other ducks. He ordered them to treat Jimmy as family, he gave him food and place to sleep. Jimmy was very grateful and followed Philip everywhere. Philip was rather enjoying the attention and he knew that if he played his cards right, he could have Jimmy by his side forever. How he wished to have such a beautiful swan! Jimmy will obey him, and all the other ducks will respect him even more than they did now. And they did respect him well enough, after all, he was the Duck of Crowborough.

Once Jimmy and Philip were swimming on the pond, when a swan landed on the edge of it. She shouted that she was just stopping by to have a bit of rest and water to drink before she continues her long journey. Philip ushered Jimmy into the reed, to hide him from the swan.

“Who is that?” Jimmy asked full of wonder, watching the beautiful bird.

“That is a swan. Don’t come near them, they are evil.”

“But how can be somebody so beautiful be evil?”

“That’s the trick they play on you. They lure you in with their beauty and then they hurt you with their beaks and strangle with their long necks. No one would be able to help you then.”

Jimmy swore to Philip that he would never, ever come near a swan. Then, Philip wished to be left alone. Jimmy stayed in the reed and wondered about everything that Philip had told him.

The adult swan brought memories to the Duck of Crowborough. Once, when he was just a young, naïve duck, he was in love with a swan named Thomas. Thomas loved him too, and the two of them planned to live together on the pond. But Philip’s father caught the wind of it and ordered Philip to marry a duck and have children with her. When he told Thomas, the swan pleaded with him not to obey his father and to escape with him. He swore that he would protect Philip against his father.

But Philip was afraid. He wanted to stay on the Crowborough pond, and he knew that if he fled, he would never be allowed back into his home. So, he told Thomas he didn’t love him anymore. He obeyed his father and married a duck. They had children together and Philip felt that his duty was done. His father died soon after that and Philip became the leader of the flock, which was exactly what he wanted.

He no longer paid attention to his wife. Now, he had Jimmy and he planned to keep him. He knew that he never, can tell Jimmy what he really is. Jimmy was going to be his most prized possession.

Jimmy liked Philip and the other ducks didn’t hate him as obviously as his previous family, but he still knew they disliked him. They were only nice to him because Philip ordered them to. Jimmy liked Philip, but they were different. He thought that he will never be truly happy unless he finds another duckling like himself. He saw the other ducks snigger at him when they thought he wasn’t looking. It bothered him more than it perhaps should. After all, he was Philip’s favourite, and everybody knew it. But sometimes he felt Philip treated him as a pet.

So, one night, when Philip was sleeping by his side, he quietly got up and crept away. He ran as fast as he could; he was afraid that if Philip caught him, he would lock him up to keep him by his side and Jimmy didn’t want that. He wanted to see what the world was like. Deep down, he knew that there were others like him, he just had to find them.

He wandered, day and night. He tended to stay alone, because the ducks usually made fun of him or didn’t want to talk to him at all. It was a lonely journey. Sometimes he was allowed to sleep with some other animals that felt sorry for him. Soon, it became winter and it was freezing outside. He was taken in by a hen called Elsie. She was very kind to him and let him rest in the warmth and fed him. Unfortunately, her chickens kept bullying him, poking him with their sharp beaks and plucking his feathers. Elsie saw it all but no matter how many times she told them to leave poor Jimmy alone, the chickens didn’t listen. Jimmy stayed with them only through the worst part of winter. Then he thanked Elsie for her kindness and continued his journey.

He had rather gotten used to the loneliness, but he grew sadder each day. The longer he walked the more he thought that perhaps there were no others like him, that he truly was just an ugly duckling. It was harder every morning to get up and continue the journey. He no longer enjoyed swimming for fun and sometimes he wasn’t in the mood to eat for days in a row. He was very sad and thought that he might as well die.

One evening, when he was barely able to walk for all the tiredness and sadness, he reached a small pond. On it sat a one single swan. The setting sun reflected on the water, colouring it orange. The white swan looked almost regal to Jimmy. Then he remembered what Philip had told him about swans and wanted to hide, but it was too late – the swan already saw him.

“You look very tired, come, have some food with me, and a bit of rest,” the swan said.

“But won’t you kill me?” Jimmy asked, scared.

“Of course not. I promise you. My name is Thomas,” the swan – Thomas – looked at him expectantly. Jimmy decided that he was dying anyway, he might as well eat something before the swan decides to kill him. Philip said they were tricky.

But Thomas didn’t kill him. He fed Jimmy, let him sleep on the softest grass and let him stay on the pond with him. They got along very well, and Jimmy thought that he had finally found a companion.

One morning, Thomas asked Jimmy how comes he had been all alone the day they met. Jimmy told him everything. As soon as he uttered Philip’s name, Thomas got incredibly angry.

“You know Philip, the Duck of Crowborough?” Jimmy asked, surprised.

“I used to,” said Thomas. “When we were both younger, we were in love. At least I loved him, but he broke my heart. He betrayed me and ordered me to leave and never come back. He married a duck.”

“Do you still love him?”

“No. I have gotten over him. He isn’t worthy of my heart. And neither is he worthy of yours. I bet he just wanted to keep you to have someone loyal and powerful by his side.”

“I wasn’t very loyal to him, I fled,” Jimmy said. He still felt a little guilty sometimes.

“And it’s a good thing you did. I just want you to know that I won’t force you into staying with me. I’d be glad if you stayed, but if you wish to go, you may, and I won’t hold it against you.” In that moment Jimmy understood, that Philip was wrong. Swans were just as good as they were beautiful. It was Philip who was evil.

“Are you really not ashamed to be seen with me?” he asked Thomas quietly.

“No. Why should I be ashamed of being seen with such a beautiful swan?”

“But Thomas! I’m no swan. I’m just an ugly duckling,” Jimmy cried.

“Look into the water, Jimmy.”

Jimmy looked and couldn’t believe his eyes. In the water he saw a reflection of a young swan with show-white feathers. At first, he didn’t understand, but then it hit him that it was his own reflection. He was a swan. That’s why he was so different from all the other ducks – he was no duck at all. Tears welled in his eyes and he looked at Thomas, still awestruck.

“Do you believe me now?” Thomas asked in a gentle tone.

Jimmy was so happy. He finally knew who he was, he finally understood. Now he knew where he belonged.

“Thank you, Thomas. Thank you for making me see,” he said. The two of them stayed together on the pond. They were the happiest swans, because they both found what they had been looking for – each other.


End file.
